Once upon a time there was a widow, who had one daughter and one step-daughter. The older daughter was her full daughter. She looked and acted exactly like her mother: that is, she was proud, vain, and very sharp-tongued. The younger daughter was the widow’s stepdaughter; her father had been married before, and now both her mother and father were dead. This girl looked and acted exactly like her dead father and mother: that is, she was humble, modest, and gently spoken. The widow favored her own daughter, so she made the younger daughter do all the housework while she and her older daughter rested all day long.
One of the younger daughter’s chores was to fetch water each day. She had to walk a mile to get to the village fountain, and then she had to carry a heavy pitcher of water back home, walking the mile again. One day as she was filling a pitcher of water at the fountain, a poor, old, raggedy woman came up to her and asked if she could drink. “Yes, of course,” said the younger daughter. “It is very hot today, isn’t it? How thirsty you must be! Let me help you.” She held the heavy pitcher up for the old lady so that she could drink more easily.
Now, this old lady was a fairy in disguise, with the power to give wonderful gifts. “You are so kind and have spoken to me so gently, I want to give you a gift,” she said to the young girl. “From now on, whenever you speak, a diamond or rose will come out of your mouth.”
“Oh, my goodness!” said the young girl, and sure enough, a diamond came out of her mouth.
When she got home, her stepmother yelled at her for taking so long at the fountain.
“I am so sorry,” said the young girl. “There was an old lady who wanted help…”
The stepmother was about to beat her for making excuses, when she saw roses and diamonds falling from the girl’s lips. “What is this?” asked the stepmother, speaking softly to the girl for the first time in her life as she held the diamond in her hand.
The girl told her about the old woman at the fountain and her gift. As she spoke, diamonds and roses poured out of her mouth.
The old woman was very happy, as it was clear they were going to be very rich now. But she wanted the same gift for her own daughter, so she told her to go and fetch water at the village fountain. “Me? Go and fetch water?” said the daughter. “That will be the day!” She grumbled so much that her mother said, “Stop croaking like a toad and go! Your fortune awaits you! And be sure to be kind to any old ladies who come and ask for water.”
The older daughter did not like to walk or work, so she swung the pitcher hard as she walked and complained all the way to the fountain. Filling the pitcher, she said, “This is so heavy! And now I have to carry it all the way back home.”
A very richly dressed and lovely lady came up to the fountain. She looked like a queen. This is not the fairy, the older daughter thought. (She was wrong about that, though. It was the fairy, in another disguise.) And because the older daughter was proud and thought she would soon have a dress as fine as the lady’s, bought with diamonds, she said rudely, “You can just wait your turn. I was here first. Don’t think all your finery means you get to butt in line.”
“I don’t recall asking to go first,” said the richly dressed lady calmly.
“Your kind always thinks they are better than everyone else,” said the rude, older daughter. “Well, you’re not!”
The richly dressed lady (the fairy) said, “Because of your manners, I think you need a gift.”
“A gift would cheer me up,” said the rude girl. “What is it?”
“You’ll see when you get home,” promised the rich lady, and she walked away from the fountain.
The girl walked home, groaning all the way with the weight of the pitcher. When she entered her mother’s yard and saw her mother coming, she put the pitcher on the ground. “There!” she said. “I carried it all that way and all I met was a rich lady who lorded it over me. Pick it up and carry it yourself. I’ll not carry it anymore.” The mother, who was looking for jewels to come out of her daughter’s mouth, instead saw snakes and toads pour out.
The kindly daughter knew she would be blamed for this somehow, so she ran away into the forest. The prince, who was coming back from a hunt, saw her and was worried that such a gentle maiden was out in the woods alone. When he asked her what was wrong, she poured out diamonds and roses as well as the words, “My stepmother blames me for everything, so I ran away.” The prince took her up on his horse and brought her to the castle. Besides her great gift, which would make any kingdom rich, he thought she was the loveliest and gentlest girl he had ever met. The more he talked to her, the more he thought of her good nature. When he brought her to the king, the king agreed that the two could marry, and they did. The castle they lived in came to be known as “The Rose Castle,” for its hallways and rooms were always filled with vases and vases of fresh roses.
Tired of living with snakes and toads that constantly came out of her daughter’s mouth, as well as the girl’s selfishness and bad temper (so like her own!) the mother sent the older daughter to live alone in the woods, where she was never heard from again.
Objectives
Cognitive: Students will understand that happiness, prosperity, and good fortune come from being kind to others. They will understand the theme of the book: that Living Happily Ever After means being kind and good. Affective: Students will not want to be like the selfish sister. They will want to be kind to others. Behavioral: Students will chart differences and similarities between two stories. Children will recite the maxim, “What you give comes back to you!” They will distinguish between polite and impolite verbal commands.
Class Session 1
Read the story. Afterwards, ask students if they could imagine the diamonds and roses coming out of the mouth of the kind daughter. Ask if they could imagine the snakes and toads coming out of the mouth of the selfish daughter. Then ask if they think each daughter got what she deserved. Listen to their responses.
Explain that sometimes people who are selfish and rude get their own way, without being punished. Yet, eventually, they will suffer some kind of consequence for their disrespectful behavior. Sometimes the consequence is just their own unhappiness and bad feelings.
Ask students to tell you what they thought of the ending, when the selfish daughter was banned from her home. Say, “This was a very sad ending for that daughter, wasn’t it? Can you think of a way things could have turned out better for her?” Listen to their responses. Then say, “Wouldn’t it be a better ending if that daughter had changed her ways and learned to be kind, like her sister? Then she could have lived at the palace, perhaps, and lived a happy life, too.”
Explain that sometimes when we are kind and generous, like the good sister in the story, we don’t get any reward, except a feeling of happiness. Explain that this is already a kind of reward. Go on to say that everyone wants happiness, and when you feel good about yourself, you feel happy. Ask, “Is happiness enough of a reward?”
Tell them that this story is part of a book called Living Happily Ever After. That is because it is true that people who are kind and good live happily ever after. Those who are selfish and bad are not happy in their lives, because they have given unhappiness to others. Remind students of the phrase, “What you give out comes back to you!” Ask students to repeat this phrase after you.
Class Session 2
Ask the students to read the story on their own and answer the following questions at the end. Define the following vocabulary for them before they begin: stepdaughter, widow, vain, sharp-tongued, humble, modest, proud, favored, and finery. Ask the students if they think the word “sharp-tongued” means that the sister’s tongue was actually sharp and pointed, like a knife, or if this means something else. Ask them what it might mean.
Questions
1. Why was the mean daughter favored by her mother? 2. Was this fair? Why or why not? 3. How did the younger daughter treat the old woman at the fountain? 4. What came out of her mouth after that? 5. How did the older daughter treat the old woman at the fountain? 6. Who was happier—the mean, selfish daughter or the kind, unselfish daughter?
Exercise
It’s easy to see who is good and who is bad in a story like this. Yet sometimes we don’t realize when we are being selfish. We may not be as bad as the older daughter was, but still we may refuse to do chores or to help others, even when they ask. When you go home, try doing whatever someone asks you to help with without complaining. If you can keep doing this, you will have a happy life, just like the youngest daughter.
Suggest to the students that everyone play a game that will help them to remember to be polite and kind to others. This will be a variation on the game “Simon Says.” One child is chosen to be “Simon” or the leader. The rest of the class stands up.
Simon gives the children things to do: stand on one foot, scratch the head, wave the arms, turn around once, touch the toes, put hands on hips, etc. However, instead of “Simon says” being the cue for the students to obey or not, Simon has to say something polite at the beginning of the sentence: “Please stand on one foot,” “Kindly scratch your head,” “Please wave your arms,” “Kindly turn around once,” “Would you mind touching your toes?” and “It would be nice if you would put your hands on your hips,” etc. If Simon is kind and polite, the children obey. If he or she does not say something polite and kind at the beginning of the order, the children disobey. Those who get it right remain standing; those who get it wrong sit down. Eventually, one child will be left standing, and he or she is the new polite and kind Simon! From: Discovering the Real Me, Book 3. For book orders, click here.
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Story
Table of Contents
Once upon a time there was a widow, who had one daughter and one step-daughter. The older daughter was her full daughter. She looked and acted exactly like her mother: that is, she was proud, vain, and very sharp-tongued. The younger daughter was the widow’s stepdaughter; her father had been married before, and now both her mother and father were dead. This girl looked and acted exactly like her dead father and mother: that is, she was humble, modest, and gently spoken. The widow favored her own daughter, so she made the younger daughter do all the housework while she and her older daughter rested all day long.
One of the younger daughter’s chores was to fetch water each day. She had to walk a mile to get to the village fountain, and then she had to carry a heavy pitcher
of water back home, walking the mile again. One day as she was filling a pitcher of water at the fountain, a poor, old, raggedy woman came up to her and asked if she could drink. “Yes, of course,” said the younger daughter. “It is very hot today, isn’t it? How thirsty you must be! Let me help you.” She held the heavy pitcher up for the old lady so that she could drink more easily.
Now, this old lady was a fairy in disguise, with the power to give wonderful gifts. “You are so kind and have spoken to me so gently, I want to give you a gift,” she said to the young girl. “From now on, whenever you speak, a diamond or rose will come out of your mouth.”
“Oh, my goodness!” said the young girl, and sure enough, a diamond came out of her mouth.
When she got home, her stepmother yelled at her for taking so long at the fountain.
“I am so sorry,” said the young girl. “There was an old lady who wanted help…”
The stepmother was about to beat her for making excuses, when she saw roses and diamonds falling from the girl’s lips. “What is this?” asked the stepmother, speaking softly to the girl for the first time in her life as she held the diamond in her hand.
The girl told her about the old woman at the fountain and her gift. As she spoke, diamonds and roses poured out of her mouth.
The old woman was very happy, as it was clear they were going to be very rich now. But she wanted the same gift for her own daughter, so she told her to go and
fetch water at the village fountain. “Me? Go and fetch water?” said the daughter. “That will be the day!” She grumbled so much that her mother said, “Stop croaking like a toad and go! Your fortune awaits you! And be sure to be kind to any old ladies who come and ask for water.”
The older daughter did not like to walk or work, so she swung the pitcher hard as she walked and complained all the way to the fountain. Filling the pitcher, she said, “This is so heavy! And now I have to carry it all the way back home.”
A very richly dressed and lovely lady came up to the fountain. She looked like a queen. This is not the fairy, the older daughter thought. (She was wrong about that, though. It was the fairy, in another disguise.) And because the older daughter was proud and thought she would soon have a dress as fine as the lady’s, bought with diamonds, she said rudely, “You can just wait your turn. I was here first. Don’t think all your finery means you get to butt in line.”
“I don’t recall asking to go first,” said the richly dressed lady calmly.
“Your kind always thinks they are better than everyone else,” said the rude, older daughter. “Well, you’re not!”
The richly dressed lady (the fairy) said, “Because of your manners, I think you need a gift.”
“A gift would cheer me up,” said the rude girl. “What is it?”
“You’ll see when you get home,” promised the rich lady, and she walked away from the fountain.
The girl walked home, groaning all the way with the weight of the pitcher. When she entered her mother’s yard and saw her mother coming, she put the pitcher on the ground. “There!” she said. “I carried it all that way and all I met was a rich lady who lorded it over me. Pick it up and carry it yourself. I’ll not carry it anymore.” The mother, who was looking for jewels to come out of her daughter’s mouth, instead saw snakes and toads pour out.
Tired of living with snakes and toads that constantly came out of her daughter’s mouth, as well as the girl’s selfishness and bad temper (so like her own!) the mother sent the older daughter to live alone in the woods, where she was never heard from again.
Objectives
Cognitive: Students will understand that happiness, prosperity, and good fortune come from being kind to others. They will understand the theme of the book: that Living Happily Ever After means being kind and good.Affective: Students will not want to be like the selfish sister. They will want to be kind to others.
Behavioral: Students will chart differences and similarities between two stories. Children will recite the maxim, “What you give comes back to you!” They will distinguish between polite and impolite verbal commands.
Class Session 1
Read the story. Afterwards, ask students if they could imagine the diamonds and roses coming out of the mouth of the kind daughter. Ask if they could imagine the snakes and toads coming out of the mouth of the selfish daughter. Then ask if they think each daughter got what she deserved. Listen to their responses.Explain that sometimes people who are selfish and rude get their own way, without being punished. Yet, eventually, they will suffer some kind of consequence for their disrespectful behavior. Sometimes the consequence is just their own unhappiness and bad feelings.
Ask students to tell you what they thought of the ending, when the selfish daughter was banned from her home. Say, “This was a very sad ending for that daughter, wasn’t it? Can you think of a way things could have turned out better for her?” Listen to their responses. Then say, “Wouldn’t it be a better ending if that daughter had changed her ways and learned to be kind, like her sister? Then she could have lived at the palace, perhaps, and lived a happy life, too.”
Explain that sometimes when we are kind and generous, like the good sister in the story, we don’t get any reward, except a feeling of happiness. Explain that this is already a kind of reward. Go on to say that everyone wants happiness, and when you feel good about yourself, you feel happy. Ask, “Is happiness enough of a reward?”
Tell them that this story is part of a book called Living Happily Ever After. That is because it is true that people who are kind and good live happily ever after. Those who are selfish and bad are not happy in their lives, because they have given unhappiness to others. Remind students of the phrase, “What you give out comes back to you!” Ask students to repeat this phrase after you.
Class Session 2
Ask the students to read the story on their own and answer the following questions at the end. Define the following vocabulary for them before they begin: stepdaughter, widow, vain, sharp-tongued, humble, modest, proud, favored, and finery. Ask the students if they think the word “sharp-tongued” means that the sister’s tongue was actually sharp and pointed, like a knife, or if this means something else. Ask them what it might mean.Questions
1. Why was the mean daughter favored by her mother?
2. Was this fair? Why or why not?
3. How did the younger daughter treat the old woman at the fountain?
4. What came out of her mouth after that?
5. How did the older daughter treat the old woman at the fountain?
6. Who was happier—the mean, selfish daughter or the kind, unselfish daughter?
Exercise
It’s easy to see who is good and who is bad in a story like this. Yet sometimes we don’t realize when we are being selfish. We may not be as bad as the older daughter was, but still we may refuse to do chores or to help others, even when they ask. When you go home, try doing whatever someone asks you to help with without complaining. If you can keep doing this, you will have a happy life, just like the youngest daughter.
Suggest to the students that everyone play a game that will help them to remember to be polite and kind to others. This will be a variation on the game “Simon Says.” One child is chosen to be “Simon” or the leader. The rest of the class stands up.
Simon gives the children things to do: stand on one foot, scratch the head, wave the arms, turn around once, touch the toes, put hands on hips, etc. However, instead of “Simon says” being the cue for the students to obey or not, Simon has to say something polite at the beginning of the sentence: “Please stand on one foot,” “Kindly scratch your head,” “Please wave your arms,” “Kindly turn around once,” “Would you mind touching your toes?” and “It would be nice if you would put your hands on your hips,” etc. If Simon is kind and polite, the children obey. If he or she does not say something polite and kind at the beginning of the order, the children disobey. Those who get it right remain standing; those who get it wrong sit down. Eventually, one child will be left standing, and he or she is the new polite and kind Simon!
From: Discovering the Real Me, Book 3. For book orders, click here.
Comments
Share your experiences by clicking on the "Discussion" box at the top of this page and then clicking on "+ New Post." Your comments will appear below.